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January 2006
Hearing loss appears to be a
significant and under-reported side effect of platinum-based drugs used
to treat a variety of childhood cancers, according to researchers. As
senior investigator Dr. Edward A. Neuwelt told Reuters Health, so-called
"mild" hearing loss "has major impact on academic and
social development in kids, is very common after platinum chemotherapy,
and may be prevented using" drugs called "thiol
oto-protectants" that do not compromise the anti-cancer effects of
the chemotherapy. Full
Story
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February
2006
ISLAMABAD:
Drugs companies are being urged to do more to combat hearing loss among
cancer patients having chemotherapy. The Royal National Institute for
Deaf people (RNID) says thousands are suffering "unnecessary"
hearing damage caused by anti-tumour agent cisplatin. It is urging the
pharmaceutical industry to develop drugs that block chemotherapy's
damaging side-effects. Such drugs have already been identified but the
RNID claims that more should be spent on research and development.
Full
Story
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A simple
dose of aspirin may help protect the hearing of people undergoing
treatment with a type of antibiotic commonly used around the world to
treat diseases ranging from tuberculosis to cystic fibrosis, report
University of Michigan researchers working with colleagues in China. The
drugs, known as aminoglycosides, are most often used in developing
countries because of their low cost. While they work well against
infections, they also carry a high risk for causing hearing loss -- about
8 percent of patients are thought to be affected.
Full Story
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April 2007
Among children undergoing platinum-based
chemotherapy, early changes in auditory function can be detected using
extended high-frequency (EHF) audiometry and evoked distortion product
otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), according to a report in the April 1st
Journal of Clinical Oncology. Platinum chemotherapy is associated with a
risk for permanent sensorineural hearing loss in children, the authors
explain, but standard monitoring lacks sensitivity in detecting early
ototoxicity. Full
Story
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Impotence drugs will bear new warnings about possible risk
October 2007
Viagra and other impotence drugs are about to bear
new warnings that users may experience sudden hearing loss. It's not
clear that the drugs truly trigger hearing loss, but the Food and Drug
Administration decided Thursday to add a warning about the possible risk
after counting 29 reports of the problem since 1996 among users of this
family of medicines. The impotence drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra will
bear the warnings. So will Revatio, a drug for pulmonary hypertension,
which contains the same ingredient as Viagra.
Full Story
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November 2007
Adherex Technologies Inc. has begun the final
phase of clinical testing of a treatment developed by Oregon Health &
Science University to prevent hearing loss in children undergoing
chemotherapy for liver cancer. Preliminary studies by OHSU scientists
suggest that sodium thiosulfate, or STS, can reduce the hearing loss
associated with platinum-based chemotherapy. On Tuesday, Adherex said the
phase III study will compare the outcomes of children treated with the
cancer drug cisplatin alone or in combination with STS.
Full Story
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November 2007
In a research article that appeared in the British
Medical Journal (BMJ) scientists say they believe patient screening can
reduce the risk of hearing loss caused by a genetic mutation that reacts
to the use of amnioglycoside antibiotics.At the Institute of Child health,
London, England, writers, Maria Bitner-Glindzicz and Shamima Rahman,
explain that aminoglycosides are antibiotics that effectively fight
serious infections such as complicated urinary tract infections,
tuberculosis and septicemia. Use of the medication, however, is known to
potentially damage the ear (otoxicity). Researchers are striving to
understand the genetic some individuals have to the antibiotic's side
effects, which can yield a permanent hearing loss. Families carrying this
mutation, even if they never take aminoglycosides, may develop some degree
of deafness later in life.
Full Story
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July 2008
Get an early jump on ototoxicity, and you just may
preserve a patient's ear function. Ear damage due to the effects of some
drugs can be unpredictable and permanent. "The focus is on recognition and
prevention of ototoxicity. The earlier you catch it and the more quickly
you take the correct action, the better the chances of halting the damage
or even recovering function completely," says Susan F. Rudy, RN, MSN, CRNP,
CORLN, a research and otolaryngology family nurse practitioner at the
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in
Bethesda, Md.
Full Story
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September 2008
But now I have discovered that there is another
popular "Dr. House," TV's Dr. Gregory House on Fox's "House, M.D." The
show's popularity is not to be denied, but I have a very real concern
about a message and theme that runs through each episode. It is not his
poor bedside manner. It is not his mistreatment of residents. It is his
addiction to Vicodin (acetaminophen/ hydrocodone) that is the problem.
Here at the House Clinic, my colleagues and I have seen a significant
number of patients who have become addicted to Vicodin and have gone
completely deaf. They have been taking 15 to 75 tablets per day and in a
short period of time have developed a rapidly progressive hearing loss,
which leads to permanent total deafness. New research released this week
by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that people are receiving
important health information from prime-time television shows. Although
the study looked at the storyline of another medical drama and not "House,
M.D.," the important finding is that 45.6 percent of the audience surveyed
remembered the key medical information six weeks later.
Full Story
